07 November 2016

Toxic vessel illegally imported for shipbreaking in Chittagong:

The North Sea Producer, a highly contaminated
vessel has been imported by Janata Steel Corporation and docked at the
shipbreaking yard in Sitakunda, violating national and international laws.

First commissioned in 1984, it is a floating,
production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel used by the offshore oil and
gas industry to produce and process hydrocarbons for the storage of oil.

Formerly owned by Maersk, the vessel was stationed
at the North Sea working the MacCulloch oil field for ConocoPhillips.

When the MacCulloch field was closed, the
FPSO was brought to Teesport in Middleborough, England where it was laid up in
2015.

Having operated in the North Sea as an FPSO,
the vessel contains large amounts of slops and residues that are contaminated
by NORM (natural occurring radioactive material) and sulphur.

Bangladeshi law dictates the taking of No
Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Department of Environment (DoE), Mercantile
Marine Department (MMD) and other concerned bodies. The importer, Janata Steel
Corporation, did not take any NOC from DoE and MMD according to DoE sources.

Rather it has been anchored as a “producer”
in the document, said DoE sources.

DoE Chittagong Region’s Director Md Masud
Karim told the Dhaka Tribune that the importer did not obtain any NOC from them
and they have already issued a show-cause notice to the importer taking the
issue into cognizance.

Expressing grave concern over the environment
and health hazards of Bangladeshi Shipbreaking workers, an organization named
NGO Shipbreaking Platform and a several news media ran reports earlier this
month.

The NGO sent an official letter to UK
Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs secretary Rt Hon Andrea
Leadsom MP on October 25 citing the illegal manner in which the ship was
imported to Bangladesh via third party cash only company violating EU rules and
regulations for hazardous waste disposal management of such vessels.

The organisation has also sent a copy of the
letter to the European Commission.

According to UK based newspaper the
Gazettelive, Maersk’s Head of Sustainability, Annettee Stube has said: “The
company has not been good enough to ensure that the ship was sent to scrap to a
secure yard. Maersk is really, really sorry that this has happened.”

The NGO and local news reports also mentioned
that the vessel allowed into Bangladesh on a fake certificate saying it did not
contain any hazardous materials.

According to a report by a Dutch research
centre, Danwatch, the shipbreaking yards in Bangladesh are not equipped with
any infrastructure that could safely remove and dispose toxic waste.

The Danwatch report, in collaboration with
local daily newspaper Politiken and Broadcaster TV2, also showed footage from
Sitakunda from September showing that four workers climbing a rope ladder on
the side of vessel without any safety gear.

According to the NGO report, the ship was
sold to cash buyers, Global Marketing Systems (GMS), one of the world’s largest
companies that specialises in selling en-of-life tonnage via Conquistador
Shipping Corporation, a post box company, in St Kitts and Nevis.

Aman Uddin, managing director of Janata Steel
Corporation said over phone: “There is no hazardous toxic in the vessel and the
ship was beached in compliance with the law.”

“We received permission from DoE, Explosive
Department, Ministry of Industry for beaching the ship,” he added.

Contacted, Chief Engineer and Principal
Officer of DoE Sofiqul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune: “No permission was taken
for the North Sea Producer to be beached and cut.”

According to the High Court verdict on March
17 in 2009, to export a scrap ship, the shipbreaking yard must obtain NOC from
DoE while waste should be removed or dumped before beaching at shore. The court
also directed to ensure the occupational safety of the shipbreaking workers.